1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a carbon nanotube composite and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A self-healing or self-recovering system refers to a system designed to have the ability to detect such factors as heat, electricity, light, etc. and to recover defects on its own.
Mussel adhesive proteins are typical examples of a naturally occurring self-healing system. The mussel adhesive protein not only has high adhesion property in aqueous environments but also is capable of quickly and stably adhering to fine materials in water, ethanol, oil and organic solvents, thereby exhibiting high dispersion and adhesion properties at the same time.
Carbon nanotube is a cylindrical nanostructure of graphene. Owing to superior physical, chemical, electrical and mechanical properties, it is a useful one-dimensional nanomaterial in various applications and is used as a filler for composite materials, a material for energy storage, or the like.
However, the application of the carbon nanotube in various fields has been limited because of its strong tendency to aggregate, which is characteristic of nanomaterials. To solve this problem, effective control of dispersion and aggregation properties of carbon nanotube using various materials such as mussel adhesive proteins and external factors such as light, solvent, polarity, temperature, pH, etc. is studied.